This retrospective study aims to evaluate the clinical outcomes of tracheal stent placement in dogs with tracheal collapse, identifying factors associated with success rates and adverse effects. Thirty-one dogs treated with intraluminal self-expanding nitinol stents for tracheal collapse at Smart Animal Hospital from 2018 to 2023 were analyzed. The investigation focused on median follow-up time (MFT), clinical outcomes, and factors affecting success and complications, including age at the time of stent placement, presence of stent-related complications, and concurrent bronchial collapse. The average follow-up time was 592 days, ranging from 35 to 2,189 days. As of December 31, 2023, 11 dogs were alive, 10 had died, and 10 were lost to follow-up. Excluding those lost to follow-up, 80% survived more than a year post-procedure. Yorkshire Terriers were the most common breed, followed by Pomeranians. The average age at the time of stent placement was around 9 years, with an average body weight of approximately 3 kg. There were no notable differences in MFT across age groups, indicating that age at the time of stent placement did not significantly affect survival outcomes. Postoperative outcomes were categorized as "Good" in 51.6% of cases, "Fair" in 32.3%, and "Poor" in 16.1%. Complications, including stent fracture, malposition, and migration, were observed in 23% of the dogs. The majority (83.9%) had concurrent bronchial collapse, which correlated with certain complications but did not significantly affect MFT. Overall, tracheal stent placement is a viable treatment option for canine tracheal collapse, demonstrating significant survival rates and manageable complications. This study underscores the importance of comprehensive postoperative monitoring and highlights the need for further research to optimize treatment strategies and improve patient outcomes in veterinary medicine.

Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most common cardiac disease in dogs. Vertebral heart score (VHS) is used for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of MMVD, and it is one of the criteria used to distinguish between stages B1 and B2 according to the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) guidelines. The thoracic inlet heart score (TIHS) method is simple to perform and provides practitioners with an additional tool for evaluating dogs with clinical signs compatible with MMVD stage B. Previous studies have evaluated TIHS. In our study, we assessed correlations of TIHS with other radiographic and echocardiographic indices in Maltese dogs with MMVD stages B1 and B2. Eighty-seven Maltese dogs with MMVD stage B1 or B2, which visited Chungnam National University Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital, were included in this study. Each dog was diagnosed with MMVD ACVIM stage B1 or B2 through physical examination, cardiac auscultation, thoracic radiography, and echocardiography, with evaluation of TIHS, VHS, vertebral left atrial size (VLAS), left atrial to the aotic root ratio (LA:Ao ratio), and left ventricular internal diameter in diastole, normalized for body weight (LVIDDn). TIHS increased as the disease progressed and showed a significant difference between stages B1 and B2. Furthermore, TIHS positively correlated with VHS, LA:Ao ratio, and LVIDDn.The correlation coefficients revealed the strongest significant correlations between TIHS and VHS. In conclusion, TIHS can help diagnose and monitor MMVD in Maltese dogs, in addition to measuring VHS.

PURPOSE: Due to their comorbidities, dialysis patients have many chances to undergo radiologic procedures using iodinated contrast media. We aimed to assess time-sequenced blood oxidative stress level after contrast exposure in hemodialysis (HD) patients compared to those in the non-dialysis population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included 21 anuric HD patients [HD-coronary angiography (CAG) group] and 23 persons with normal renal function (nonHD-CAG group) scheduled for CAG, and assessed 4 oxidative stress markers [advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP); catalase; 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine; and malondialdehyde] before and after CAG, and subsequently up to 28 days. RESULTS: In the nonHD-CAG group, only AOPP increased immediately after CAG and returned to baseline within one day. However, in the HD-CAG group, all four oxidative stress markers were significantly increased starting one day after CAG, and remained elevated longer than those in the nonHD-CAG group. Especially, AOPP level remained elevated for a month after contrast exposure. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that iodinated contrast media induces severe and prolonged oxidative stress in HD patients.
Aged ; Contrast Media/*adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxidative Stress/*drug effects ; Renal Dialysis/*adverse effects

PURPOSE: To attain improvement in prognosis of patients suffering acute ischemic strokes (AIS), it is crucial to diagnose these swiftly and accurately. It is generally believed that female patients have a less favorable outcome, but there has not yet been sufficient data to confirm this opinion. The authors herein conducted a study to determine whether the symptoms of AIS differ between males and females. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 322 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with AIS on the basis of MRI findings during the last two years. Demographic findings and clinical features were collected from emergency room records in order to evaluate gender differences. RESULTS: There were 148 female patients (45.8% of total) in our study, and the average age of affection for females was significantly higher than males. Our data did not achieve statistical significance; however, we observed the following tendencies: the time from symptom onset to admission was delayed in female group; both traditional and nontraditional symptoms were more prevalent in the male group; and atypical symptoms were observed in the female group. CONCLUSION: No gender difference was observed in the incidence of acute ischemic stroke. However, the proportion of atypical symptoms was relatively higher in female patients. Factors resulting in delay clinical attention and contributing to the observed discrepancy between genders in AIS diagnosis should be validated and investigated further.
Diagnosis ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke*

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the causes and pathologic process of chronic non-productive cough as an isolated symptom with a normal spirometry and chest radiograph by investigating clinicopathologic findings. METHOD: We studied 25 adults with chronic non-productive cough over a 3-week period with a normal chest radiograph and pulmonary function tests without any other symptoms. Clinical assessment, cough score, chest and sinus radiograph, pulmonary function tests, methacholine challenge, allergic skin prick test, and bronchoscopy for bronchial biopsies were performed. Subjects were then treated with prednesolone 20 to 30 mg/day for 1 to 2 weeks. RESULTS: The experimental group was divided into two subgroups - those infiltrated with eosinophils, and those infiltrated with lymphocytes depending on eosinophil and lymphocyte counts, both of which were respectively higher than those of the control group. Eosinophils infiltrated group had mean numbers of eosinophil of 89.8 cells/mm(2) while control group's mean was 0.4 cells/mm(2)(P=0.005). Lymphocyte infiltrated group was 4 patients whose mean was 84.3 cells/mm(2) with 28.4 cells/mm(2) of control group(P=0.026). In addition, the mean thickeness of the basement membrane of experimental group was 14.20+/-5.20microM in contrast of control group whose mean was 3.50+/-1.37microM(P=0.001). With the methacholine challenge test, 7 of the 21 eosinophil infiltrated subjects were diagnosed with cough asthma; the other 14 with eosinophilic bronchitis. Three subjects with eosinophilic bronchitis were atopic positive(21.4%) with the skin prick test. In the lymphocyte dominant group, all four subjects were diagnosed with lymphocytic bronchitis. Cough score was improved after steroid treatment in 22 of 25 subjects in the experimental group (88.0%). CONCLUSION: These results suggest chronic non-productive cough as an isolated symptom with a normal spirometry and chest radiograph was associated with airway inflammation by eosinophil and lymphocyte infiltration. The causes for chronic non-productive cough were eosinophilic bronchitis, cough variant asthma, and lymphocytic bronchitis(written in frequency). They further suggest that therapeutic treatment with steroids can provide effective symptomatic relief.
Adult ; Asthma ; Basement Membrane ; Biopsy* ; Bronchitis ; Bronchoscopy ; Cough* ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lymphocyte Count ; Lymphocytes ; Methacholine Chloride ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Skin ; Spirometry ; Steroids ; Thorax